Comments on the unification of electromagnetism and gravitation through “Generalized Einstein manifolds”

Akbar-Zadeh [J. Geom. Phys. 17 (1995) 342] has recently proposed a new geometric formulation of Einstein-Maxwell system with source in terms of what are called “Generalized Einstein manifolds”. We show that, contrary to the claim, Maxwell equations have not been derived in this formulation, and that the assumed equations can be identified only as source-free Maxwell equations in the proposed geometric setup. A genuine derivation of source-free Maxwell equations is presented within the same framework. We draw a conclusion that the proposed unification scheme can pertain only to source-free situations.